Air India is negotiating for higher compensation from Boeing for failing to meet the fuel efficiency claim for the Dreamliners, a senior airline official said.

According to Boeing, the Dreamliner uses 20 per cent less fuel per mile than similar-sized aircrafts.

However, the actual indication showed that the fuel efficiency of the Dreamliner is about 17 per cent, so there is a shortfall, the airline official added.

This compensation, if agreed upon, may come in the form of a discount for the pending 21 aircraft orders that Air India will be receiving from Boeing, the official said.

Air India, which has six Dreamliners, is also seeking compensation for losses caused by the grounding of its Boeing 787 aircrafts in January and delay in delivery of Dreamliners.

About 50 Dreamliners operating globally were grounded in the month of January after a fire was reported aboard a Japan Airlines Dreamliner aircraft and a battery which emitted smoke forced the emergency landing of a Dreamliner of All Nippon Airways the same month.

The grounding was lifted earlier this month.

Restarting flights

The national carrier restarted commercial operations with the Dreamliner this week and would resume its Dreamliner service to London on May 22, and to Paris, Frankfurt and Chennai within this month.

New destinations to be covered later this year would include Birmingham, Rome, Milan, Melbourne, Sydney and Moscow.

Air India plans to sell and lease back all of the 27 Dreamliners it has ordered as part of a financial turnaround plan.

Boeing’s Senior Vice-President Dinesh Keskar said that the newly-fitted battery has more insulation between the battery cells and each cell is wrapped in electrical isolation tape to prevent over-heating.

The battery is encased in a heavy stainless steel casing, he added. The aircraft is the world’s first aircraft to use lithium-ion batteries.

nivedita.ganguly@thehindu.co.in

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